[neil]

[brightyoungreporter]

Right now, Daniel really appreciates that Louis and Lestat were dropped into this city from a time well before his. It's a great reason not to talk to them about this.

Would it hold up in vampire court? Not at all, especially when vampire court also means Lestat digging through his head and laughing.

Daniel's prepared to be grilled or roasted or cooked any number of ways, and just because he's patiently stalking Neil right now doesn't mean he expects anything less from his new mortal friend. Added to the newly renewed expectation that Armand could be and probably is watching everything he does (something he should be pissed about but isn't, how sad is that), a non-affiliated party seems like the best bet.

It's absolutely not because he wants to gossip like a teenage girl. This is not that.

Still, he waits outside Neil's house. Waves at some curly-haired kid on his way out. Thinks about smoking. Thinks about Armand, because he's truly, deeply fucked.

Comments

[brightyoungreporter]

Daniel laughs.

"I don't know. My best guess is yeah, this was some kind of let's have Daniel forget to make it easier on everyone but turns out that you don't need the actual memories."

He regards Neil with open, if slightly baffled, fondness. Guessing that part of the reason he's drawn to Neil has to do with similarities to Armand is easy work. But there's enough of himself there too, isn't there?

"I'm here, aren't I," he says. "Sorry about stalking you. Runs in the blood, I guess."

[myfavoritedream]

"I don't make myself hard to find," I said, with a shrug, meeting his smile with one of my own. I didn't know if it was because he could see into my head, but it seemed like we had a rare understanding.

"Your body remembers," I said, about the memories. It made me think of Brian. About the things I hadn't wanted to face about my own memories. About Bill and Stan, whose lives were shaped by a childhood they'd forgotten.

"Would've been easier if he hadn't been such a fuckin' freak about it," I observed, barely stifling an amused smirk. "But I figure you don't really like easy."

[brightyoungreporter]

"I thought I did, but turns out I was wrong. I'm having that experience a lot, actually." He leans back in the chair, relaxing rather than slumping in exasperated confusion. The beer bottle stays in his hands as something to fidget with, but he's not going to waste the drink.

"I think it could be good. I think it could be better than what we had. You know there's a considerable age gap. He's got a few centuries on me." If he's not careful, he's going really going to turn this into slumber party chatter.

"Jesus, I'm fucked," he sighs, but without any actual irritation.

[myfavoritedream]

Barking out a laugh, I said, "I always get bored with guys my own age." Setting my empty down on the coffee table, I reached towards him, making grabbing motions at the beer he wasn't drinking.

"So, I take it you're not a gentleman anymore." I grinned at him, thinking back on the way he'd hedged questions about their sex life. Now, it was just too much fun to goad him.

[brightyoungreporter]

Daniel has enough presence of mind to waggle his eyebrows at the mention of older guys. In a different world, he thinks, Neil would be a problem, but the kind worth having.

"I've never been a gentleman," he admits. "But you know that. It's just a strange fucking situation, one I thought was probably going to have to stay theoretical."

[myfavoritedream]

When he didn't immediately hand over his beer, I leaned closer with a grunt of annoyance and snatched the bottle out of his hand, putting my empty in its place.

"And you trust him now? Not to fuck with your head."

Unfortunately, I felt like the answer was maybe that he just didn't care. Which was also something I could understand.

[brightyoungreporter]

"More than I thought I would," Daniel says, the admission surprising him. "Who knows, maybe it turns out he's playing me like a fiddle. Back in Dubai, I took his life apart, broke up his, uh, marriage, I guess, of seventy-plus years. He let me. The fact that he sit there and let me means he wanted it, just like--"

Cutting himself off, he taps his fingernails on the empty bottle.

"We're beyond fucked up, but we're each other's fucked up."

[myfavoritedream]

"Okay," I said, tipping the beer against my lips. I couldn't know what any of that was like. Not really. They weren't even human, and I had a feeling that it might be an insult to imply that they didn't have super special vampire feelings that us humans couldn't comprehend.

But it sounded familiar. Not the part about tearing down a seventy-year marriage, but two fucked up people finding they only fit with each other. That made sense.

Glancing at my cane, leaning against the wall across the room, I said, "I almost tore up my life for someone who isn't even here anymore. I can't even say it wasn't worth it, so. I get it, is all I'm sayin'."